The Start Of A New World

He had spent all night and day searching for Naruto. He searched every inch of ROOT headquarters, all hideout locations in Konoha that once belonged to Orochimaru. The Forest Of Death- twice. He went as far to search the civilians and ninja who he knew had a grudge against Naruto. And nothing.

Naruto wasn't in Konoha. Yet nothing pointed to Kumogakure. Nothing pointed to foul play, Naruto had run away before. Never this long but they couldn't rule it out. Konoha didn't have the manpower to jump to another war. After the Uchiha they had recuperated. They built their defenses up and used the money to supply new weapons. But they still lacked the numbers. If they hopped in war with Kumogakure, there was no telling that Iwagakure was going to sit in the background and wait for their turn.

And as much as he should, he could barely give two shits about the upcoming war. Not when his sensei's son was missing. He traced Naruto's scent to the forest he was so familiar with. He wondered how many nights he hid in trees and watched the boy cry himself to sleep, before the pain became too much for him and forced him to keep taking long missions away from everyone.

And every time Kakashi wanted to go down there and comfort him, but how could he? He couldn't even call himself a brother. He knew he was young, and he couldn't raise a child. Not with being in ANBU, but he could have made himself known. Sarutobi hadn't forbade him from not knowing Naruto. He did that on his own.

He had only been on Nauto's watch guard a handful of times. And each was worse than the last and never failed to cause him to take a long term mission. There was so much he could have done, so much he wished he'd done and yet. He couldn't turn back time. And this wouldn't be the first time he had these realizations.

He hated being sober. A sober mind never stops thinking. And he hated being stuck in his head. Which is why he preferred going on missions, where everything was protocol and his thoughts only portrayed mission guidelines.

He wiped the sweat from his head before looking to the sky. He was four hours late and sober. He needed to get his head in the game and fast. He wasn't sure how long Sarutobi was going to last before declaring war, and he needed to find Naruto before anything could happen. With one quick scan across the forest he made his way back to training grounds three.

It has been awhile since he last saw his team- his family. Two months. Rin needed fresh flowers, but she would understand why he had to postpone on that. He could hear Obito and Rin telling him how it wasn't his fault Naruto was gone. And in that same breath telling him how it was his fault if he didn't find him.

He expected Sakura to be mad at him for his abrupt leave, he was not however expecting her to try to run into his arms already crying. He looked at Sasuke as he stepped out of Pinkett's way, who was not too subtly looking, very relieved that he was no longer dealing with the crying girl.

"Sensei! Naruto isn't- I went to the hospital and- and Naruto wasn't there!" She pulled back from him and started gesturing around. "They said he'd never been there! Naruto's gone! And Iruka-sensei said he hadn't seen Naruto either! Just that he was told he passed off record! Naruto's gone!"

"We have to find Dobe." Sasuke's arms were crossed and dare Kakashi say he looked worried.

"Naruto is missing. We have been ordered to find him, fast."

"Do we know-

"If we knew anything, Naruto would be here."

"It's my fault sensei! I didn't even check on him, I knocked but I didn't do anything else! If I would have-

"Sakura. Where did you check?"

"The hospital and the academy."

"I went back to his house, I didn't find anything."

He nodded his head as he looked at his two ducks. They were on the right path unfortunately, they wouldn't find anything.

"Maa how about the two of you go check the places he hangs around and-

"How are we supposed to know where he goes." His stoic Uchiha asked.

"He's always at that ramen place! Maybe the man there saw him, and he usually hangs around the academy or the Hokage's head. And then there's the place Shikamaru and Choji goes- Naruto sometimes goes there." Both him and Sasuke glanced at her. She shrugged, "Naruto's a baka and always asks me out to those places… maybe I should have said yes? Then he wouldn't have left?"

"You saying yes wouldn't change anything."

"It wouldn't? If I became Naruto's friend, let him know he wasn't alone then he wouldn't have run away from being alone? Right of course it's not my fault. You're right, sensei." Honestly, he thought. This could have been avoided, all he had to do was be there for the boy.

But he was so consumed in grief he couldn't even look at him. He was disgusted with himself- as he should be. Naruto was a child and yet he was thrown into a shinobi world. Forced to grow in the worst way possible. He bit his tongue until he tasted blood.

"There's no point in blaming yourself. You decided not to be his friend, and now you want to be the victim." Ouch that hurt. But he shouldn't be surprised, Sasuke gave off that vibe.

"I was a kid." She looked torn between defending herself and bowing to the Uchiha's wishes. Sasuke however wasn't putting up with any of it.

"We were all kids."

"You didn't hang out with him either." She pointed accusedly to Sasuke, guilt still etched into her eyes.

"You're all below me. I don't need friends, I need strength." As much as he should stop Sasuke, Kakashi needed to hear it, even if it came at the pinkettes expense. He failed and there was no point in blaming himself, Naruto needed help. Not the other way around.

"Gods! Just listen to yourself! Naruto's missing and all you care about is strength."

"No, I care about finding the Dobe because he's our teammate. And yet you care about finding him because you feel bad about how you treated him."

"Does that matter?!"

"You don't care about Naruto, Sakura. You care about how it looks on you."

"Ok," He slowly interrupted, "How about you and Sasuke go look there and I'll go back to the forest. We're missing something, let's find it. Consider this your first A Rank mission. Should you fail the village would suffer."

"I don't think the village would suffer from Dobe being gone, but go off." Sasuke swiftly turned and Sakura shot him one last glance before running off with the Uchiha.

"Let us know if you find anything, Hatake-sensei!"

Huh Hatake-sensei… He never did have them partake in introductions.

….

He had searched the entire village again and yet the only trace of Naruto he found was at a random tree in the forest the boy frequently visited. He examined the tree once, then twice. It was fading but Naruto's chakra was in the tree.

He searched around the area and couldn't find any evidence of a fight. Yet Naruto's chakra had clearly been used at the tree. Was it a jutsu or was the boy reckless? Had someone attacked him so clearly they left no trace?

"Urushi, what do you have?"

"Nothing boss. The kid was here but hasn't been for days." He sighed as he glanced at his ninken, before petting behind Urushi's ear.

"Yo boss, can you tell what jutsu he used in the tree?" It felt familiar but it was different, very much so.

"Could he have gotten his hands on Minato's technique?" He didn't glance at Jiraiya but swiftly shook his head.

"Everything on Hirishan is sealed." No pun intended.

They stood staring at the tree. Both trying to come up with something to say to the other.

"It's been 10 days and nothing."

"We're trying."

"Not hard enough if he's still gone." Kakashi closed his eyes, they had tried. Or at least he has, Naruto isn't in Konoha. And yet no traces lead to him leaving Konoha. "I should have been informed the day he went missing."

"Would you have come? How is this any different from before." There were no accusations in Kakashi's voice. Just the bitter truth.

"We have no option but to find him. If he isn't in Konoha we need to bring him back."

"I've been ordered to stay."

"Leave the old man to me." He slowly glanced at the older man. It's been years since he last saw him.

"I have a team, Naruto's on it."

"The old man informed me. Can't say I'm surprised you got the last Uchiha." Jiraya searched the tree before removing its bark.

Kakashi went and began doing the same. The slowly peeled off the bark until a seal was shown.

"What's this?" They were staring at Minato's seal.

"It's not Minato's- at least not his finished project. This is amature work." Kakashi and Jiraiya slowly looked at each other. This couldn't have been Naruto, they knew of the boys standing in school.

Also saying it was amateur work was a big understatement. Whoever made this seal knew how to use the hirasin. But the point of the matter was, the seal was reeking of Naruto's chakra.

"Naruto wouldn't have been able to do this." They both nodded their heads coming up with the same conclusion.

"Genma."

They left the forest in pursuit of Minato's ex guard.

"Did the old man inform you?" Kakashi pulled out his orange book before nodding his head. "You know, I always appreciated how you have no shame in reading my book in public." Kakashi turned the book away from the man, refusing to let him know what page he was reading.

"Maa everyone should read this classic in a public setting." Jirayia nodded his head.

"Tsunade won't join in. Konoha has the best medic training but it'll be just like the second and third." Which meant countless deaths.

"I'm the last person she'd want to hear from." He 100 percent understood why his father did what he did. That didn't mean everyone did. Or those who did, still blamed him for the way the second war turned out. All the deaths- Tsunade included.

"I'm trying to get them to up the age requirements, but it isn't looking good." They walked past a blur of orange.

"I have a genin team now-" They paused before slowly looking back at the missing picture of one Uzumaki Naruto. Jiraiya quickly ripped the flyer off the wall, while Kakashi did the same to the next four.

"What the hell is this?" Jiiraiya hissed at him, and he honestly had no idea.

"This isn't my doing." He said evenly back.

"Oh my Kami." Whispers started, "Is that the Kyuubi?" A civilian asked another.

"Dear Kami, it says he has been gone for days."

"Missing or kidnapped?"

"Unclear…"

"What's going to-

Jiraiya and Kakashi moved at once. Quickly taking flyers from civilians while informing them the information was a lie. A prank by the Uzumaki nonetheless, while informing them that they could be held in contempt if they spread the information.

Flyers were littered on every street. Crowds were gathering and by the time they found the culprits the damage had already been done.

"What the fuck are you doing." He quickly snatched the papers out of the Uchihas hand.

"Hn. What does it look like?"

"Well we figured since we can't find Naruto, maybe someone else has seen him!" Was the eager reply of his very silly duck, as she taped another paper to the wall. It was quickly ripped off.

They didn't know any better, he told himself. They don't know any better, he fixed.

"Do you brats realize what you just did?" They both glanced at Jiraiya before standing straighter.

"We're helping find our teammate. You told us to look for him!"

"Maa and the academy said you two were the top of your class. I guess there that goes." Both students stared at him in shock. With a quick jutus the papers were set on fire. He really didn't want to go back into the hokage's office with no information, let alone the information that was going to drive the village into a frenzy.

"Hatake-san." He didn't look at the ANBU as he roughly grabbed his team's arms.

"Go home and don't come out until I come for you."

"You can't ground us!" His grip tightened on both arms.

"Yeah fine, we'll go home."

"Hn."

He pulled back from them. Fuck, he thought. This team was going to be the death of him. And he couldn't blame them. He hadn't informed them that the information was classified. Shit.

He knew Sarutobi was going to be mad. Yet when he came in from the window the man along with Danzo remained calm.

"Kakashi-kun, Jriaiya-kun, I don't believe I need to inform you on what's about to happen."

"We ended the rumors at once. Anyone being seen or heard of spreading them will face consequences."

"And how are the civilians being afraid of us doing us any favors?" They instantly refrained from speaking. Sarutobi didn't always speak with such blatant command but when he did, his men knew instantly to shut up. Every bone in his body screamed at him to act as the ANBU captain he was and kneel, Kakashi fought it down.

"It won't be long before the rumors spread to the neighboring villages. We are going to get out ahead of it." There were a few ways this could go. "The village is going on national lock down. No one in or out besides the teams I deploy. Along with this it is best if we get the upper hand on Kumo. I'm assigning you a mission with your team. I need information, Kakashi."

"Allow me and Kakashi to go. Sasuke should be in the village. We can't lose Naruto and him."

"The Kyuubi holder is a sad loss. But the Uchiha needs experience. Experience he will get from this mission."

Day two and his team was already assigned their death.

"Come at me with the intent to kill." He told his ducklings. If they were going to battle, they would need to be prepared for anything.

The Uchiha leapt at him, throwing his all into every attack. Kakashi easily dodged and pushed back. He looked at the girl who was nervously looking around as she threw kunai after kunai at him. It wasn't the best, but at least she was helping her teammate.

They both had a long way to go, but the girl was already at a disadvantage. He sighed before sending a clone her way.

He turned back into the Uchiha direction and noticed him glaring at him.

"What duck?"

"We're wasting our time. If the Third told us we have to find the Dobe, why are we still here?"

"Maa aren't you happy I'm taking time to train you?"

"This is useless, teach me something I don't know." Ahh brats.

"Sasuke," He said, standing behind Sakura with a kunai lazily grazing her neck. "There's an important scroll in your pocket that you're not allowed to give to the enemy at any cost. Now the enemy has your teammate hostage, what do you do?"

"Sensei wait! This isn't fair, I didn't even get a-

He pressed the kunai harder to her neck and she stopped speaking. Blood dripped down her neck slowly.

"Sakura being a ninja isn't fair. You have to be on guard 24/7. Now your teammate and you are in a tough situation. What do you do?"

Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Sasuke. She nodded at him, before leaning her head forward, making the kunai dig deeper into her throat before she threw her head back with all her strength.

Sasuke darted forward just as the kunai slit across her neck, he halted to a stop just as Sakura's lifeless body dropped to the ground. He froze, his body shaking as he stared at Sakura's body.

Kakashi frowned as he watched the scene from the trees.

Sasuke had promise, but at the end of the day he was just a child living with PTSD.

He dropped the genjutsu and watched as The boy fell, clutching his head.

"Sensei, what the hell!" Sakura shouted as she dropped next to Sasuke.

"Old man, don't you think you're being too hard on them?"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?"

Genma laughed as he punched Kakashi in the shoulder. "I heard you were looking for me. Listen before you say anything I don't think the boy left the village, there's no trace of him heading out the gates. I also talked to Yugao- who was on his patrol duty that day, and she said he was thrown into a tree and then bam. The kid was gone."

"The tree had Minato's seal embedded into it."

"Lord Fourth's seal? You don't think… no, there's no way that brat could have learned that seal."

"Or someone taught it to him."

"Woah woah, Kakashi you know we wouldn't. Naruto wasn't allowed to know anything that related to his heritage. That included seals. But what- no no no." Genma repeatedly shook his head, making Kakashi narrow his eye at him.

"Maa nothing's a bad idea right now."

"Well, it's just… knowing Lord Fourth, he most likely sealed his chakra into him right? I've been doing some reading ("That's surprising") and time travel isn't as far fetched as we think it is. But there's no way right?"

"I don't think there's a way for us to get him out if it were Minato's chakra that took him."

"Well you have to have something that-

"I don't, all Minato's seals were destroyed, along with his kunai."

"And I'm supposed to believe you don't have one of his kunais? Come on Kakashi, I'm not snitching. We failed Lord Fourth, the most we could do is bring his child back home."

"I have one."

"Alright, meet me near the tree at nightfall. Let's see if this theory is right."

As much as he didn't want to think of the possibilities of Naruto time traveling, it was better than the boy being kidnapped. He just hoped they weren't too late and the boy hadn't replaced their Konoha with a different one.

A/N

My favorite part writing this was when the villagers found out Naruto was missing lmao. I'm wondering how long it'll take the news to travel to the surrounding villages. So Team 7 is getting ready to get deployed to go scout out Kumo, but before that they have to test out one last theory. Seems interesting. We finally get a little taste of Genma, you're welcome, I know we love Genma over here.

Chapter five is currently in the works but I'm not sure how i wan't it to play out- stay tuned.

Until then, the semester is almost over! Thank You Loves for the read and I hope we are enjoying the weather!